journey don't stop believin family guy

Don't Stop Believin'

"Don't Stop Believin'" is a pop song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape . Often considered the band's signature song, the power ballad became a top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.

In " Don't Make Me Over ", Peter Griffin , Glenn Quagmire , Cleveland Brown , and Joe Swanson sang it at The Drunken Clam on karaoke night.

https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/File:Believin.ogg

Peter : ♪ Just a small town girl, ♪ ♪ living in a lonely world ♪ ♪ She took the midnight train going anywhere ♪

Cleveland : Oh, Peter, don't make me do... ♪ Just a city boy ♪ ♪ Born and raised in South Detroit ♪ ♪ He took the midnight train going anywhere ♪

Mayor Adam West : Oh, God. I love this song. And I love it when amateurs sing the lyrics. But I hate baseball cards.

Joe : ♪ Some will win ♪ ♪ Some will lose ♪ ♪ Some were born to sing the blues ♪

Quagmire : ♪ Oh, the movie never ends ♪ ♪ It goes on and on and on and on and on... Giggity-giggety-giggety-goo! ♪

Man : Hey, that's Journey! Kick ass!

Woman ): Howard! [Crying, then her expression changes] Hey, that is Journey!

Cleveland, Joe, Peter, Quagmire : ♪ Streetlights, people... ♪

Cleveland : ♪ Oh-oh ohhhhhhh OHHH! ♪

Joe : Get some! Get some!

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Don’t Stop Believing

Album escape, story of song.

‘Streetlight people’ was the term on Steve Perry’s mind looking down from his hotel room. In an interview with New York Magazine, Perry explained that the song originated during a series of gigs in Detroit when he found himself in his hotel room unable to sleep and staring out of the window. Perry said: “Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard, their shadows searching in the night, streetlights people, living just to find emotion, hiding, somewhere in the night. I was digging the idea of how the lights were facing down, so that you couldn’t see anything. All of a sudden I’d see people walking out of the dark and into the light and the term ‘streetlight people’ came to me. So Detroit was very much in my consciousness when we started writing.” There has been controversy over the lyric “Born and raised in south Detroit” since this city name does not exist in Detroit. When asked about that, Perry said:”I ran the phonetics of east, west, and north, but nothing sounded as good or emotionally true to me as South Detroit, the syntax just sounded right. I fell in love with the line. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve learned that there is no South Detroit. But it doesn’t matter.”

Release date

Released on October 6, 1981 in the US and December 1, 1981 in the UK.

Songwriter/s

Jonathan Cain – Steve Perry – Neal Schon

Chart Rankings

GERMANY  – 4

This classic hit debuted at number 62 in the UK, peaked at number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and ranked at number 8 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. The song re-entered the charts 27 years later becoming the72nd most downloaded song of 2008, a year later in 2009 the song topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads. In the same year it became the top-selling track in iTunes history amongst songs not released in the 21st century, it is the best-selling digital song from a pre-digital-era. ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ was used as a soundtrack in television series and films such as Monster, Family Guy, The Sopranos, My Journey, South Park, The Wedding Singer, Shrek the Halls, Bedtime Stories, Yes Dear, King of the Hill, The Comebacks, View from the Top, Cold Case, CSI, My Name is Earl, Just Shoot Me, Laguna Beach. In the year 2005 in the US, the song became national anthem for the Chicago White Sox baseball team. It is the 15 Most Downloaded Song in Rock History, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it 6 times platinum for digital sales over 6.4 million digital units.

Artist’s age on release date

The band Journey was active for 8 years when they released the song. Steve Perry and Ross Valory were 32, Neal Schon and Steve Smith were 27 and Jonathan Cain was 31 years of age.

Cover Versions

Northern Kings – Petra Haden – Alvin and the Chipmunks – Steel Panther – Joe McElderry – Big Brother (2010) – The X Factor Indonesia – Jumprockers – DJ Higheffect featuring Silvia Dias – Starship. (All Time Low) band covered this song. Lady Gaga, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Blondie and Shirley Bassey performed this at the finale of a Rainforest Fund benefit at Carnegie Hall in May 2010.  In 2009 it was remade by the cast of the Fox TV musical comedy Glee.

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Journey – Don't Stop Believin' lyrics

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Don't Stop Believin' meanings Post my meaning

• U + 4 Unregistered 2015-01-27 03:00:01 I think it just describes the tragic state of reality. It means that, simply, some people win, some lose, and some of them (like me) are born to sing the blues. But it also says not to stop believing, though it gives no alternative. The sad reality is that one day, dreamers will no longer dream. Underdogs will no longer win. Lovers will no longer be together. But that day is far away enough for us, so lets just keep listening to old music and discussing their meanings. Add your reply
• p + 3 Prizy 2009-01-31 18:54:03 Simply put, the song is about never giving up hope, and continuing the search. I've been hearing this song alot as of late, and I really like it. I have to say though, what initially got me into this song was when I heard it on Family Guy, on the episode when Peter and his friends decided to start some kind of karaoke band, and this was the first song they performed! So funny, especially when they each took turns singing a line! Add your reply
• U + 2 Unregistered 2011-12-12 17:41:39 Don't stop believin is a very tragic song, thousands of people listen to it every day and it puts them in a good mood. But very few people know the actual, dark and twisted message behind this song. Tommy tucker was a very high-spirited 8 year old. He had perfect grades and attendance all throughout elementary school. One day he took a took the wrong bus home from school on accident. He saw some kids on it that he had never seen before. Suddenly he was blindfolded and being beaten. Next thing he knows, he laying in an abandoned alley surrounded by seven older men. They rape him. And they keep raping him. And hour later they are still raping the hell out of him. Finally they finish on tommy and leave him there. Tommy walks home awkwardly because his butt is really sore. Like super sore. Tommy goes home and tells his parents about what happened. His father kneels in front of him, looks in his sons eyes and says. "tommy tucker... You dont stop believin. " That is what this song is about. Add your reply
• U - 4 Unregistered 2012-03-13 07:54:05 It sound like this song is about 2 homosexual dude meeting up on a male prostitute strip and strip bar in secret cuz society wont accept it at that present time. So the song is to give hope that one day homosexuality will be accepted, hince the title don't stop believing. The written lyrics say something different than the song the song says "just a small town girl living in a lonely world he took the midnight train" not she. This is indicating the female/male in the male prostitution relationship. Add your reply

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The improbable story of the Journey classic that keeps coming back to life

From Mafia finales to Arnold Schwarzenegger: the brilliant and often bizarre and afterlife of Journey’s Don't Stop Believin'

When the screen cut abruptly to black and the strains of Journey ’s Don’t Stop Believin’ went silent at the finale of iconic TV show The Sopranos in 2007, it might have symbolised the death of Tony Soprano, but it began a new life for Journey’s enduring classic.

The song’s revival provided an extraordinary new chapter in a fairytale story that began back in 1981 and continues to this day. After its Sopranos -assisted revival, the song became a belated UK Top 10 hit in 2009 (it limped to a paltry No.62 when it was originally released), been streamed almost half a billion times on Spotify and been covered by everyone from Steel Panther to erstwhile teenyboppers Hanson. These days, Don’t Stop Believin’ is a kind of unofficial American national anthem – and it’s thanks in a large part to Tony Soprano. 

“That’s the incredible power of mixing music and images,” explains Gary Calamar, whose job as one of Hollywood’s top music supervisors is to find that perfect mix. “That Sopranos scene was incredible, the final scene of one of the best TV shows ever. There was a huge audience with big expectations for the finale. Plus, the song is a great mix of heavy whack hairband rock with Steve Perry wailing his heartfelt and, dare I say, inspiring lyrics.”

Calamar compares the use of Don’t Stop Believin’ with other memorable scenes involving specific songs: Night Ranger 's Sister Christian in Boogie Nights , Stealers Wheel's Stuck In The Middle With You in Reservoir Dogs , Sia’s Breathe Me in Six Feet Under . “When you have a big music scene like that it has a massive impact,” he says. “It really gets under your skin and sticks with you.”

“I think the song’s continued popularity goes back to its core meaning,” says Kara Wright, the A&R coordinator with publishing company Peer Music. “ Don’t Stop Believin’ carries a timeless message that says don’t stop believing in you – don’t stop believing in the world – don’t stop believing in anything. Life goes on (and on and on) regardless whether you’re a small-town girl, a city boy, the Sopranos or a member of your high-school glee club.”

The public’s insatiable appetite for Don’t Stop Believin’ was underlined just two years after its use on The Sopranos when it featured in the pilot episode of the TV show Glee in May 2009. The cast’s version of Don’t Stop Believin’ topped that of Journey’s original, reaching No.4 in the US Top 100 and echoed the digital download success of the original, going gold in the US with sales of over 500,000. The Glee cast later covered the song again, resulting in combined sales of 973,000 for both versions. It fared equally well in Britain where the Glee cast’s recording debuted at No.5.

To further emphasise the seemingly limitless affection for the song, in addition to its high-profile inclusion on The Sopranos and Glee , versions of Don’t Stop Believin’ have appeared in – deep breath – Family Guy, Scrubs, South Park, My Name Is Earl, Just Shoot Me, Benidorm, Eastenders, TV Burp , countless editions of The X-Factor and American Idol, Swedish Idol, Australian Idol … you get the picture.

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While Don’t Stop Believin’ ’s 2007 inclusion on The Sopranos is considered by many to mark the beginning of its latest wave of popularity, in an article in the LA Times, Journey’s Jonathan Cain – who wrote the song along with Steve Perry and Neal Schon – cited its use in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer as the spark. Though Gary Calamar, who is also a DJ on LA-based radio station KCRW, begs to differ. “For better or worse I don’t think Don’t Stop Believin’ ever went away. I’ve always felt its cheesy presence.”

Ten years later Sandler and Don’t Stop Believin’ were reunited in Bedtime Stories . In the interim it featured in the 2003 drama Monster starring Charlize Theron. The actress, who was also the film’s producer, had been so keen to include the track that she personally wrote a letter to Steve Perry. After viewing the proposed scene, Perry agreed to the song’s use and even became the film’s music consultant.

The song is in the title of the Journey documentary Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey , while other films to feature it include View From The Top, The Comebacks, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and The Losers .

Gary Calamar, whose list of credits includes House, Dexter and After The Sunset , understands why the song is featured so regularly. “In a way, using these songs is like batting practice for a music supervisor, you know you have a good chance of hitting it out of the park with one of these old power ballads and a big, over the top scene.”

“It’s a feelgood song with a positive message and a memorable melody,” says Kara Wright, “and it’s an anthem that can be accepted and applied to any kind of situation.”

To back her words, scour Spotify and you’ll come across a dizzying list of artists who have covered the track in all manner of styles, from symphonic metallers Northern Kings to dungaree-clad downhome rockers Hayseed Dixie. There are classical versions, bluegrass versions, acapella versions, dance versions and lounge jazz versions. Scour YouTube and you’ll even come across a reggae cover alongside versions by Panic! At The Disco’s Brendan Urie, John Mayer, Stashrip and even audio of a workout set to the tune by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Don’t Stop Believin’ is a perennial live favourite, and not just for Journey. During its lifespan it’s been covered by an array of artists. Notable among recent live performances was its inclusion on Kanye West’s set list during his 2008 Glow In The Dark tour while a charity event for the Rainforest Fund at Carnegie Hall in May brought together the unlikely combination of Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen , Elton John , Sting, Debbie Harry and Shirley Bassey for an encore of the song.

 “I think the revival of Don’t Stop Believin’ can be greatly attributed to the exposure and emphasis that entertainment platforms such as TV, video games and advertising now offer to music – an ideal medium that works well for current and classic titles,” says Kara Wright.

The song’s inspirational message has made it a favourite with sports teams, never with greater impact than with the Chicago White Sox. During the 2005 season the hapless baseball team adopted Don’t Stop Believin’ as their rally cry. The team duly went on to reach the World Series for the first time in 80 years with Steve Perry being invited to attend as they swept the Houston Astros in four games.”

It’s hard to go anywhere these days without being exposed to the song in some form. All across America innocent ‘Stop’ signs have been transformed into Journey tributes with the simple addition of two words.

Wherever you do go, you can even be wearing your Don’t Stop Believin’ knickers or clutching your Don’t Stop Believin’ teddy bear. Its omnipresence is why Kara Wright feels Don’t Stop Believin’ is “at the forefront of other songs decades old being revitalised and reintroduced to popular culture.”

Wright believes the song’s success paved the way for others. Absolutely, given the digital revolution and multimedia phenomenon, I think it’s an extraordinary time for classic rock songs to find new leases on life. In this way, long-forgotten music will continue to be revived as younger audiences gain new found appreciation for rock history. The universe of catalogues yet to be unleashed is thrilling.”

And what of the men who wrote it? Unsurprisingly, the song closes every Journey show these days, though given its popularity, it would probably induce riots if it didn’t.

Former singer Steve Perry has a more complicated relationship with song. The only times Perry has sung onstage since he stepped away from music in 1995 came when he made guest appearances at three shows with the band Eels in 2014. And while he did sing Journey songs with the group, Don’t Stop Believin’ wasn’t one of them.

The original version of this article appeared in Classic Rock issue 153

Kevin Murphy is a writer, journalist and presenter who's written for the Daily Telegraph, Independent On Sunday, Sounds, Record Mirror, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Noise, Select and Event. He's also written about film for Empire, Total Film and Directors Guild of America Magazine.

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The Meaning Behind The Lyrics Of “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey

via Grunge / YouTube

Journey will forever be remembered through their legendary song “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Released inside the band’s Escape album, it became a hit all over the world; Rolling Stone even placed in on no. 133 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Its popularity resurfaced in the 21 st century, following the hit TV series Glee’s cover version.

The song’s inspiration was true-to-life on its own accord, simply an experience of keyboardist Michael Cain’s conversation of his father, who always gave his son a moment of clarity when things get rough. In an interview with American Songwriter, Cain revealed the details of its lyrics like it was written yesterday.

“My dad and I had this conversation ,” Cain said. “In the 70s, I was kind of on my down and out phase. I’d lost my record deal with Warner Bros. and I had a day job and then my dog got hit by a car and I had a $1,000 vet bill. And I had called for money and I said, “Maybe I should give up on this thing dad, and come home to Chicago.” And he said, “No. You stay where you are.”

Cain further added: “It seems bad right now but there’s something coming and I feel it and don’t stop believing, Jon. That’s all I can say to you, don’t stop believing.” His father lent him both the money and the courage to never give up; the musician then began to write the words in his notebook. In about 20 minutes, Cain had come up with the song’s lyrics.

Both Neil Schon and Steve Perry contributed to the formation of the song’s structure, which was fragments of each’s imaginations. Journey was successful in picking Cain to change their sound, and “Don’t Stop Believin’” was the proof of that.

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An Injured Dog Inspired Journey’s Biggest Song of All Time?

Maybe the song reminds you of the joy of innocence, young love and hope for the future. Maybe it reminds you of the extremely ambiguous ending of The Sopranos . But whatever your relationship is to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” — which was recently crowned “ the biggest song of all time ” — you would probably never guess that it was inspired by an injured dog, “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and a supportive dad who stood by his son’s rock ‘n’ roll dreams. But those are the exact ingredients that helped bring this monster 1981 hit into existence.

(And don’t worry … the dog ended up fine.)

Before joining Journey in 1980, keyboardist Jonathan Cain had a run of bad luck. The struggling Los Angeles musician had lost his record contract and was forced to begin working a day job, when he received another nasty surprise: his dog was hit by a car.

“And it was a $900 vet bill, and I’m barely making my rent,” he told the Tennessean in 2018. “I call my dad up and said, ‘I need a loan … Am I just dreaming? Should I just come back to Chicago?’ He said, ‘I’ll give you the loan, you gotta stay put.’ … And he said, ‘Son, don’t stop believin’.’’

Cain wrote the line down in a notebook, took the cash to pay for his dog, and slowly, his luck began to change. In 1978, he joined UK rock band the Babys, and in 1980, he was recruited to join Journey shortly before the recording of their 1981 album Escape .

As the band looked for one final song to complete the album, Cain went into his old notebooks, and rediscovered the phrase he had written down years earlier.

Coming back to the band with just the chords and words “ Don’t stop believin’, hold on to that feeling ,” Journey jammed on the song, developing it as they went along. The song quickly came together musically, with Steve Perry scatting and yodeling over the instrumentation in place to the still-to-be-decided lyrics.

Paul Natkin/Getty Images

So how did a song inspired by a dad and a dog turn into the tale of a small town girl and a city boy making new lives for themselves?

In a 2021 interview with American Songwriter , Cain recalled that, listening back to a recording of the song’s music, “Neal had played that interlude that sounded like a train. It was these little staccato things — diggy-diggy-diggy — it sounded like a train going down the track. And I listened to it … and I said, ‘This sounds like a train, Steve.’ And I said, ‘You know that song, ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’? What about a midnight train going anywhere?’ And [Steve Perry]’s like, ‘Yeah!’ and then he looked at me and he said, ‘That Jack and Jill song about the guy and a girl, what if we plug that concept in?’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea.’”

And when it came to the lonnnnnely world that the song’s characters inhabited, Cain yet again recalled his early days in L.A.“ I said , ‘I’ll tell you where the location is. This sounds like Sunset Boulevard in the ’70s, where I lived, and it sounds like Friday night.’ I was explaining to them how everybody would cruise up and down the boulevard. I mean, the hustlers, the dreamers, the producers, the actors, the actresses, the wannabe starlets, the wannabe anybodies were all on Sunset, cruising, driving, looking for their hookup, their something.”

The San Francisco band then brought in a scene from another western city: Las Vegas. “We wrote about Vegas,” said Cain . “Paying anything to roll the dice one more time. That’s it and that’s dreaming. Like, I’m going to win, I’m not stuck where I am. I think we wanted to write that song to say it’s OK to dream, it’s OK to get out. You’re not stuck where you are. You can go somewhere and take that midnight train.”

>>Journey Wouldn’t Exist Without This Classic ’60s Band

Dogs, dads, dice, Gladys Knight, Sunset Boulevard … Journey’s greatest hit has a lot of unusual inspirations. But perhaps that’s why it’s so beloved — there’s a little something there for everybody.

But remember: if you’re planning a rock ‘n’ roll road trip, make sure you don’t try to stop in South Detroit … it doesn’t technically exist (the area immediately south of Detroit is Canada). “I got a lot of flack for” the South Detroit shout-out, Cain told American Songwriter . “Because there was no South Detroit. And I said, ‘Because it’s a mystical place, it doesn’t exist!’ It’s the city of possibilities in your mind. That’s what South Detroit is. So, leave it alone.”

And just in case you’re curious … Cain remains a dog lover .

Plus Neal Schon & Jonathan Cain talk bands legacy and former singer Steve Perry.

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Just a small town girl Livin' in a lonely world She took the midnight train going anywhere Just a city boy Born and raised in South Detroit He took the midnight train going anywhere A singer in a smokey room A smell of wine and cheap perfume For a smile they can share the night It goes on and on and on and on Strangers waitin' Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searchin' in the night Streetlights, people Livin' just to find emotion Hidin', somewhere in the night Workin' hard to get my fill Everybody wants a thrill Payin' anything to roll the dice Just one more time Some'll win, some will lose Some are born to sing the blues Whoa, the movie never ends It goes on and on and on and on Strangers waitin' Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searchin' in the night Streetlights, people Livin' just to find emotion Hidin', somewhere in the night Don't stop believin' Hold on to that feelin' Streetlights, people Don't stop believin' Hold on Streetlights, people Don't stop believin' Hold on to that feelin' Streetlights, people

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All 8 Characters Tony Kills In The Sopranos (& Why)

The highest-rated episodes of the sopranos confirm the best character in the show, grey’s anatomy season 21 casts character from owen hunt’s past in recurring role.

The final scene of The Sopranos sees Tony's story suddenly cut to black, but not before Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" plays out, a song choice with various meanings and possible interpretations in the context of the show's ending. Widely (and rightly) regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time, The Sopranos went out with one of the most audacious and shocking finales in history, as the screen suddenly went dark, leaving many viewers wondering what had happened and whether or not their cable had cut out.

Even by The Sopranos ' own standards, it's a scene ripe for analysis, and one that has been pored over and debated upon ever since, with various answers to questions such as whether or not Tony Soprano (the late James Gandolfini) actually died or not. Of course, while whether or not Tony died is a natural question to ask, it's also not completely the point of those final moments. They instead tie into the larger themes of the show and of the dangers of the life Tony leads, and that's in part supported by the decision to have Journey playing in the scene.

Related:  The Sopranos: How Christopher Is Related To Tony (He's Not His Nephew)

One of the key refrains in "Don't Stop Believin'" is the line "It goes on and on, and on, and on," , which is repeated several times throughout and feels particularly apt when discussing Tony 's life, and his final scene in particular. It doesn't matter so much whether or not he dies there, perhaps whacked by the guy in the Member's Only jacket, but rather that he will one day be killed. That he's destined to spend the rest of his life looking at who is walking through the door ahead of him, or checking over his shoulder, because that's the life he's chosen and he has painted such a target on his back. In other words, even if he does live, what he's experiencing in those final moments will go on and on, and on, and on.

Of course, it's also possible to interpret the song as a message of hope for the viewers too, or at least those who want to think that Tony wasn't killed . In that case, "Don't Stop Believin'" takes on a more optimistic quality, allowing audiences to keep on believing that Tony survives. That, too, has a meaning both broader and deeper though, especially when applied to the show as a whole. The Sopranos is, at least in part, a dissection of the American Dream, and what that really entails. To not stop believing is a core tenet of said Dream, and so as the show ends - in an episode called "Made In America", no less - then it's one final comment on that, reflecting back upon what the entire run of The Sopranos has been about.

Chase himself has discussed the song choice in a breakdown of The Sopranos finale for the DGA , noting that a key reason for using it was the music, which he shot the scene too, allowing for all those necessary cuts between Tony and the door, and setting the tempo for a scene that, although it should be fairly nondescript (it is, after all, just a family eating at a diner) takes on a suspenseful, purposeful energy and quickening sense of dread. Of the decision to cut out just as the lyric "don't stop" is sung, Chase adds: "The ceiling I was going for at that point, the biggest feeling I was going for, honestly, was don't stop believing. It was very simple and much more on the nose than people think. That's what I wanted people to believe. That life ends and death comes, but don't stop believing." Whether Tony died or not, it's clear from the masterful final moments of The Sopranos , and its use of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", that one day he will, but that viewers themselves will never give up believing either.

Next: The Sopranos' Cut To Black Ending Explained

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Don't Stop Believin' by Journey

• Just a small town girl Livin' in a lonely world She took the midnight train goin' anywhere Just a city boy Born and raised in south Detroit He took the midnight train goin' anywhere A singer in a smoky room A smell of wine and cheap perfume For a smile, they can share the night It goes on and on, and on, and on Strangers waiting Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searching in the night Streetlights, people Living just to find emotion Hiding somewhere in the night Working hard to get my fill Everybody wants a thrill Payin' anything to roll the dice Just one more time Some will win, some will lose Some are born to sing the blues Oh, the movie never ends It goes on and on, and on, and on Strangers waiting Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searching in the night Streetlights, people Living just to find emotion Hiding somewhere in the night Don't stop believin' Hold on to that feelin' Streetlights, people Don't stop believin' Hold on Streetlights, people Don't stop believin' Hold on to that feelin' Streetlights, people Writer/s: Jonathan Cain, Neal Joseph Schon, Stephen Ray Perry Publisher: Hipgnosis Songs Group Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind
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Comments: 119

• Chad Eicher from Apple Creek, Ohio This song has got to be one of the greatest hit songs that I knew the words to. The cast of the Fox television show "Glee" did their version of that hit song. It just blew me away.
• Rw Cain, at a songwriters festival in 2014, explained some parts of the song. The girl and guy story is like a version of Jack And Diane; they may not be real people. The trains moving at midnight is inspired by the song Midnight Train To Georgia. Live versions of the song, depending on the main vocalist, may change South Detroit to whatever city the band is playing in at that moment.
• Soulsoldseparately from Buffalo, Ny Does "city boy born and raised in South Detroit" refer to an actual person?
• Seventh Mist from 7th Heaven My daughter's favorite song. She often used it as inspiration once she was on her own and (seemingly) facing a new challenge every day. She never stopped believing.
• Susan from Illinois Question-asker from A Train Going Anywhere, I think the lyric means ourselves. The movie is our lives. I believe our lives on this planet will end, but our souls will live on and on in another place.
• Ronsha from New Jersey OMG. This song is so dang famous! People everywhere know this song. I swear to God it's even growing on the younger generations, including me. I used to hate it and think it's overrated, but deep down I always thought, oh darn, this song's catchy, who am I kidding? I'm 13 now and Don't Stop Believin' is one of the most uplifting songs I've ever heard. Not only the sound, but also the lyrics are beautiful. Good song to make you feel strong, nostalgic... it could make you cry too.
• Brett from Mason Whether we choose to hear Streetlight People for street lights, people Steve Perry came right out and said after a concert in Detroit he is looking out from his hotel room down on the street and there we're people just wandering around the street. Not necessarily prostitutes or any other specific type of people. More or less aimlessly wandering around Under The Lights doing nothing. Mendez for the South Detroit I don't think he was intending to give a geography lesson. He was making a song sound the best it could possibly be
• Mckinzie from United States This is my all time favorite song, I say that this is my song because I could relate to this song so much.
• Nick from Ohio This is the most played classic hit of all time. Who would have thought that a song that peaked at #9 would become the undisputed biggest song in history.
• Badintense from Erie Pa This song has crossed all generations and ethnicities as a beloved song. Last summer (2019) in my neighborhood a group of young black teens were hauling their giant boom box down the street blaring this song and singing the words perfectly as if they were in an adult karaoke bar. It actually brought a tear to my eye since I was a teen when this song first came out in 1981. Journey's music has really brought people together into a common bond no matter what the media tries to push on people.
• Question-asker from A Train Going Anywhere what does the lyric "Oh, the movie never ends It goes on and on, and on, and on" mean in this song?
• Seventhmist from 7th Heaven I recently took a long trip and played a Journey collection in my car, downloaded from a phone app. It contained a live version of this song, performed in Houston, that I hadn’t heard before. When Perry reached line about the boy, he sang, “Just a city boy, born and raised right here in Houston!” That definitely caught me by surprise.
• Jodie from Xx I'm pretty sure he's saying "streetlights, people". Not "streetlight people".
• Steve from Albany, Ny And the nonsense about Windsor being "considered" south Detroit continues to stick to the Wiki page like doodoo. LOL It's been said by many that you should never rely on Wiki as a source of reliable / accurate information. Very true.
• Charles from Charlotte The stuff about lowlife killer Eileen Wuernos kissing her female lover just sullies the discussion of a great American pop song. Wish Perry & Co, had said NO!! to that.
• Leonardo from Connecticut I would argue that the Sopranos season finale repopularized the song, not Monster...
• Tony from San Diego Steve Smith plays an amazing drum pattern during the choruses.
• Steve from Albany, Ny The info on the Wikipedia page for this song is inaccurate. And some moderator is allowing it to be there. I guess the following from John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band's song C-I-T-Y was actually referring to Windsor too: "On the South side of Detroit city I'm working all night on the line" Yep, definitely referring to Windsor, Ontario because everyone knows Windsor, Ontario is "considered" south Detroit. Right. LOL
• Steve from Albany, Ny Regarding "south Detroit", I'm simply going to paste in what I just got done explaining to a mod at Wiki who is apparently bent on leaving misinformation on the Wiki page for this song. Sorry but this is pretty simple stuff and anyone who doesn't get it is an imbecile. ........................ I'm guessing / just realizing that you're a type of moderator here. If you in fact have control over what info is on the page in question, it would be a HUGE wrong to leave in the very misleading entry you've re-submitted. Windsor, Ontario is south _OF_ Detroit, Michigan. Detroit, Michigan is the city that NUMEROUS bands would make reference to in their songs. Especially rock bands and especially during the 70s into the 80s. Not Windsor and not any other suburbs of Detroit that also lie south of Detroit (or "downriver"). The song simply makes reference to the south SIDE of Detroit. The quote by Perry makes it clear that the word south was only added because... well, try singing it without south and just a long INNNN in it's place. As the quote makes clear, the song would not have sounded right without south (or something) before the word Detroit. Not that it's is needed for most to understand that the song is referencing Detroit and only Detroit but there is also a quote by Perry in which he stated that Detroit was very much in their (the writers) minds as they wrote the song. Windsor is not a part of Detroit. The song makes reference to the south side of Detroit. If the entry about Windsor is left on the page, so be it, but it is completely misleading and wrong.
• John from Chino, Ca This song is played during the final minutes of Detroit Red Wings home games where it seems evident that the team will win. Played over the PA system, the song is muted so the crowd can sing the verse, "Born and raised in South Detroit."
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On December 13th 1981 "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey peaked at #9 (for 3 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on October 25th and spent 9 weeks on the Top 100... It reached #2 in Canada and #6 in the U.K. Was one of four tracks from the group's 1981 album 'Escape' to make the Top 100 (the others were "Who's Crying Now" (4), "Still They Ride" (#19) and "Open Arms" (#2)... And on September 12th, 1981 the album peaked at #1 (for 1 week) on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart.
• Steve from Albany, Ny Some of the comments here regarding this song and it's mentioning of south Detroit are ridiculous. Saying there is no south Detroit is funny enough (there is a south side of any city and I was born and raised in SW Detroit myself) but I especially get a kick out of the people who say the song is referring to Windsor. If the following Steve Perry quote is accurate, "All of a sudden I'd see people walking out of the dark, and into the light. And the term 'streetlight people' came to me. So Detroit was very much in my consciousness when we started writing.", then the ONLY city being referenced in the song is Detroit. If by chance the lyrics were written as "South Detroit" as opposed to "south Detroit", I suppose that could indicate that Perry/ the writers were thinking of some area of Detroit or evena separate town with that name but it's not likely and that capital S is the only error here. There's nothing complicated here, the song simply refers to the south side of Detroit.
• Jay from Centereach, Long Island, Ny I am surprised that the "South Detroit" line is so controversial. As a New Yorker, and not wholly familiar with the local geography or the neighborhood names of Detroit, I always thought South Detroit simply meant the southern part of Detroit, much like the South Bronx is the southern part of the Bronx. But who cares? This is a great song; no one should be concerned about a geographic error.
• Deethewriter from Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation Neal Schon told RAW RAWK RU NEWS 2011-10-24 that the recent resurgence of "Don't Stop Believin'" after appearing on The Sopranos and Glee -- as well as becoming the first iTunes song to reach two million downloads -- is beyond his comprehension: "When the record came out, there were other songs that were actually bigger than that off it on radio. Y'know, to have it this many years later just come out and be bombastic (laughs) like never before, just like all over the place and just keep on . . . It just keeps on going. Y'know, it's just pretty amazing."
• Terry from Grafon, Wi This song should be the national anthem of the United States.
• Willie from Scottsdale, Az Bwaaahahaha! Now Michelle "White House Crasher" Salahi is shacking up with Neal Schon. Priceless.
• Ken from San Mateo, Ca Since last year's World Series victory, I will always associate this song to the Giants and the Bay Area. Absolutely one of the best songs!!!!
• Hannah from Gustavus, Oh I'm graduating this coming Sunday (May 29, 2011) and I couldn't be more thrilled that this was voted in as our class song. When they announced it at school you could hear people cheering. I think the reason it's such an enduring song for graduation is that unlike most of the class themes that get picked ("Good Riddance," "Here's to the Night," etc.) it's not about looking back and being sad it's over, but rather looking forward and realizing there is indeed life afterward. It's about living life to the fullest (the first verse) and how even though life is difficult ("some are born to sing the blues"), the important thing is to at least take chances and try ("roll the dice just one more time") - and of course, to not give up no matter what may happen, because everything will turn out just fine in the end.
• Michael from Cincinnati, Oh Journey's 1982 album "Eascape was made into a video game titled "Escape".It was produced by Atari for the 2600 model.It was made by Data Age in San Jose,Cal.The Object of the game was to help the band members "Escape" the fans chasing them around.Pretty cool game at the time.
• Steppy from Detroit, Mi *South Detroit Debate* I'm from metro Detroit (as well as a giant Journey fan) and had always wondered about the reference to South Detroit. I heard and interview a year or so ago with Steve Perry, where he addressed the issue. I listened to it online, maybe Youtube?, so the interview may have been old. At any rate, he said that after a concert in Detroit, he was sitting in his hotel room, very late, working on this song. The room was on a high floor and he was watching the people standing under the lights and pondering their lives ("streetlight people"). While he realized that South Detroit didn't really exist, he used a bit of artistic license, because it flowed better than East Detroit.
• Megan from Stevenson, Al Tell me why this is AMAZING?! lol This song is on a totally different level. Awesome.
• Jim from Long Beach, Ca Great song. South Detroit=Winsor,Ontario,Canada.....
• Jay from St Paul, Mn I listened to a few interviews Steve has given. He said he used South Detroit because it sounded better than North, East or West. He said he didn't realize there was no South Detroit. He jokingly said he found out South Detroit was actually Windsor. As far as streetlight people, he said it's something that he noticed when he looked out of a hotel window. If you Youtube it, you can find the interviews. Very worth while.
• Ken from San Mateo, Ca What a song...Like the Chisox, this also became a tribute song for the 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants! And Journey is from this area, so it makes better sense.
• Bobby from Belleville, Nj While Journey's version is a classic, back in 2008 before it was used in Sopranos, freestyle artist George LaMond remade the song into a pop/dance version. And a very good one, I might add.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny Five years before Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" Olivia Newton-John had a completely different record with the same title, it peaked at No. 33...
• Bd from Vienna, Va Probably worth noting in the brouhaha about Journey turning down a cover of this song is that Randy Jackson was in the band for a while in the mid-80s before their first breakup.
• Rob from Fredericton, Nb One of the many anthems most prominiately found in the 80s hall of great music. For every song played on the radio, this one song sticks out the most when I use to go to a carnival in my hometown. With the smell of fries, hotdogs and other foods lingering in the air, you could always hear a Journey tune blaring in the background while everyone enjoyed riding the many rides at this carnival. So when you take an experience, like a carnival, and feature all of it's pleasantries you soon inaugurate any song from the 80s, namely a Journey tune, and the picture is complete. Such a great band and such a great song.
• Sara from Detroit, Mi And for those of you that want to split hairs, Look on the map of Detroit. Melvindale, Ecorse, Lincoln Park, Ecorse, Delray, Allen Park, Southgate, Taylor, River Rouge, Wyandotte. These are all blue collar or very poor areas, and most people worked for the Big 3 auto companies. This area is called "Downriver" as it is south of Detroit. Detroit itself is a pretty small city. What most people think is Detroit is any one of the suburbs that lies within or outside of Detroit's city limits. Oak Park, Hazel Park, Highland Park, and Hamtramck, are all INSIDE the City Limits. Where as Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Southfield, Eastpointe, are OUTSIDE of Detroit's City Limits...yet most people consider it part of the greater metro area. When the word METRO is used by itself all over the country it means DETROIT METRO. We were the first place to use the term "Metro" as a colloquial term for a specific large area, as Detroit was the first city in the country to spread out that fast with that large of a population. The city of Detroit itself, is small.
• Sara from Detroit, Mi You are all VERY WRONG about the South Detroit explanation. To those of us who are FROM Detroit and GREW UP THERE....SOUTH DETROIT IS ANYTHING SOUTH OF I-96...a.k.a "Downriver" ....There has NEVER been a place CALLED South Detroit. It's like being in any big city, the term is more loosely used, than say "South Philly", "South-Central L.A." "Southside Of Chicago". Yes Eastpointe was East Detroit but that has absolutely NOTHING to do with this, you don't see a "West Detroit" on the map do you? As for the lyrics it IS in fact "Streetlights, People". It's amazing how many Americans struggle with their own native language!
• Carrie from Roanoke, Va Petra Haden does a cover version of this song.
• Karen from Manchester, Nh I have loved this song for years...until I heard that it was the closing song on the piece of filth that is titled "The Sopranos".
• Jose from Brisbane, Australia Please tour Australia! I know it's hard because for some reason, Australia never really got into Journey... sad lot we are.
• Nikki from Yamba, Australia greta song... love that it has on family guy.. scrubs... the sapranos... the wedding singer and love when LC and stephen sing it on the second series of laguna beach!
• Ellen from Chicago, Il A great song. See Wikipedia's article (search the song title) for additional details as to what exactly is meant by "South Detroit" - in the section called "Sports".
• Rahul from Chennai, India absolutely beautiful song....
• Stu from Philly, Pa They've been quoted as saying "it's streetlight people, we're talking about prostitutes." At any rate, check the lyrics book that came with the album. One of the greatest songs of all time, it was a real treat to see the cast of Glee perform it on that new TV show. One of the best non-Journey renditions of it. My band Raised On Radio usually starts our sets with this song.
• Mike from Brighton, Ma To answer the age old question, "South Detroit" actually refers Southfield, Michigan. (Southfield, ironcally is north of Detroit.) In the 1980s, Journey played many charity soft ball games with WRIF-FM (The Riff).
• Brendan from Cape Town, South Africa The line after "streetlights, people" sounds like "heaven just a fun emotion" Any other suggestions?
• Allen from Knoxville, Tn On the University Of Tennessee campus, somebody has spray painted on the stop signs "dont STOP believin'" Great song, even 27 years after it was released!
• Katie from St. Paul, Mn The lyrics say "Streetlights, people...", not "Streetlight people".
• Josh from Indianapolis, In Journey Rocks Big Time!!!!!!!!!!!!! thers not a song by them i dont like> Rock on!
• Bob from Dumbsville, Belarus Wow this song is beautiful! Everytime I'm down, I listen to it and it gets me back on my feet again. This song just defines 80s music. Journey will just never be the same without Steve Perry leading their crusade.
• Morten from Sydney, Australia I'm an 80's music tragic but suprisingly had never heard of this song! Thanks to Family Guy for introducing me to this gem! -Morten, Sydney, Australia
• Dean from Windsor, On I would just like to inform all those people who say this song isn't about Windsor. When "South Detroit" is mentioned the city of Windsor is what they are talking about. Windsor is actually SOUTH of Detroit. If your ever around my town and stand at the river your compass will point north. Enjoy!
• Julie from Taylor, Tx When this song comes on...me and best friend victoria go crazy! it's their best song. Classic 80's!
• Melanie from Seattle, Wa Scott from Boston - what a cool story! Haha I want to go write that on a stop sign now! :D This song is sooo good. Journey's best IMO. Steve's voice is amazing.
• Neil from Ottawa, Canada This song was sung by the football team in the 2007 film "The Comebacks". One of the players starts singing it in the change-room, and it turns in to a full-stage concert. It mocks the sports movie cliche of teams turning it around with an uplifting theme song, and also references the Chicago White Sox World Series.
• Liquid Len from Ottawa, Canada What a great song! The only song Journey did in the 80s that wasn't horrid!
• Fredrik from Stockholm, Sweden This song was also featured in the South Park episode "tsst" when Cartman is plugging in his X-Box. He sings the lines "Don't stop believing, hold on to your feelings"
• Krista from Elyria, Oh I love Journey! And I love it when ametuers sing the lyrics! But I HATE baseball cards...
• Scott from Boston, Ma During cross country last year there was a stop sign we always ran by during practice and it said "don't" above it and "believing" below it. It became our team's song and we often sang it very out of tune during runs. Also, that Family Guy episode is awesome (as most are). "Oh my god, that is Journey!"
• Michael from San Diego, Ca One of the most beautiful songs of all time...if this song doesn't get to you, then you may need to check your pulse!
• Richie from Sedalia, Mo Edgar, Kings Park, NY Better luck next time!!
• Edgar from Kings Park, Ny This song reminds me of my failed suicide attempt. Well... there's always next time.
• Brian from Portage, Mi Yes, Detroit is an East/West city, but no matter where an area is, there is still four cardinal directions.
• Brian from Detroit, Mi Anyone from Detroit will know what i am saying, but "south detroit" refers tothe area south of Outer Drive, Detroiters refer to the area as "downriver." i Just want to clear the confusion. It ISINT canada, it ISINT eastpointe, NOR groose pointe.
• Eamon from Motherwell, Scotland THis inspirational song was played every night in a juke by me when I was teaching summer camp in up state New York back in 1980. Being from Scotland, I loved the American rock scene and this classic just typifyies it. 27 years later, I play the Journey live DVD while I work out every other night and never tire of hearing it, it is in my blood. I had the pleasure of seeing Journey in Glasgow earlier this year and it was a real highlight. One question - I have heard different lyrics for this some say "Heaven is a funky mouse?" Any comments guys and girls? Eamon.Motherwell. Scotland.
• Sergio from Miami, Fl I have been listening to this song for a long time now. I grew up listening to it and I admit, its my all time favorite. It is so cool now to see a new generation fall in love with it thanks to Family Guy, Scrubs and Sopranos. I dont think it matters if South Detroit is correct or not cause whenever they performed it live with Steve Perry he always replaced Detroit with the city they were in at the moment. I always thought that was a nice touch and he always got a cheap pop for it. I know I will always love this song and just dont get sick or hearing it. Journey was a fantastic band with some great musicians.
• Mary from Canyon, Tx This song was my junior class song way back when in ancient times, not too long after it was first released. EVen I know Windsor, ON is south of Detroit! (Southeast to be exact.)
• Mark from Glassboro, Nj This song was used in the very end of The Soprano's Final Episode. The song is cut short and the screen goes to blank.
• Missy from Ann Arbor, Mi You may not belive this but 'Don't stop Belivin' was my senior class song...I love it and so did my class...we were a pretty small class and we were all ubsessed with soft and classic rock...the good stuff...Whenever I hear those first few piano keys play, I will alway go back to my high school gym, on a hot june day, walking to the stage to graduate...Good Times, Great Memories and GREAT SONG!!!
• Mike from Hueytown , Al I love the 80's on VH1 ripped this song apart.
• Mark from Des Moines, Ia I can't help but think of the CHICAGO WHITE SOX and their magical run to the World Series title in 2005. What a great season!!! What a great song!!!
• Maria from Houston , Tx I agree with most, his voice is awesome!!!!
• Kara from Cadillac, Mi Artists magic is what happens when you take a group of extraordinarily talented people and put them together, allowing them each to do what they do best. Journey is what happens when it all fits together and creates something wonderful. They're not just a band- they're an era. Neal Schon is with out a doubt one of the most gifted guitarists ever. His knowledge and presentation of his craft are nothing short of brilliant. Steve Perry's vocals are masterful. They, along with Schon's guitar work, gave Journey a distintive sound. Jonathan Cain - a perfect fit, though I admit I've always liked Greg Rolle too. I have a Journey album that was made prior to Steve Perry's joining and listening to that makes me know that Journey would have been great no matter what because they had the talent to be great. I know there were changes in the lineup, but Ross Valory's bass playing was also part of what made Journey what it is to me. I loved Steve Smith on the drums, but as with Rolle, I was sad to see Aynsley Dunbar go. Journey was a concept, a feeling, a part of life, an important accent to memories in my life and continues to contribute to important events in the lives of my kids. Two of my sons play guitar and are greatly influenced by Neal Schon. One of them is currently overseas serving in the millitary- he will marry his high school sweetheart when he returns and their wedding song will be "Open Arms". The two sons that I have at home have recently been getting into Journey - "Generations" and I have found that I love their music now as much as I ever did. It never mattered to me that Steve Perry said "South Detroit" - I lived in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti for many years and I never could keep the suburbs or other offspring areas of Detroit straight anyway. I lived in San Francisco too and always knew that "Lights" was about that city - even if it was written in (or partially in) L.A. - Who cares? Does anybody ever question why "Still They Ride" has traffic lights in it? No. Why? Because it's a truly amazing song about times changing before people are ready for them to with an outstanding guitar lead and excellent vocals. Get over the details. This is legendary music by exceptional musicians. Just enjoy it.
• J from Boston, Ma and I mean (in the last comment) in the chorus part at the end.
• J from Boston, Ma About the streetlight line, I think the first time the line is done, it sort of sounds like streetlight with a little extra sound on it. However, the second time the line is sung, he definetly says streetlights. As the song fades out, I think he says streetlight.
• Jack from London, England Coming from England I had never heard this song on the radio before I heard it on Family Guy. I then heard the song during an episode of Scrubs Season 3 called "My Journey" and decided I had to download it. JOURNEY KICK ASS
• Nathan from From The Country Of, Canada I always heard this song on the radio, but it wasn't until its appearance on Family Guy's kareokee episode that i realized how good the song actually is.
• Peter from Detroit, Mi No matter what, at least once a month I hear this song at the bar. My friends and I are from Dearborn Heights, MI and I like to replace south detroit with "dearborn heights" while belting the lyrics to the annoyance of my girlfriend...she thinks I'm cute so it's cool. Rock on Journey!
• Tom from Vashon, Wa This is an amazing song. It is so sweet. I love it. I think that it has a great message that we can all relate to. Wether we are living on the streets or we are just having problems with our closest friend. You can never stop believing.
• Dave from Beamsville, Canada If you listen closely, you will hear a rendition of this song during the first wedding ceremony on 'The Wedding Singer' when Adam Sandler gets stood up at the alter.
• Allan from Calgary, Canada At The Den (the on-campus bar at the University of Calgary) this song has been the last song every weekend night for the last 10 years. All the regulars drop their pants and do the "no pants dance" Quite a good time and a great way to end the night at a great bar.
• Zeke from Washington, Dc All the lyrics say that the line is "Streetlight, people..." but if you listen to the song it DEFINITELY sings "Streetlights, people." Which do you think it is?
• Kevin from Grosse Pointe, Mi Yeah, but who calls Windsor "South Detroit"? Nobody. I love this song, but that line always bugs me. Why not say "Just a city boy, born and raised in East Detroit" East Detroit is the former name of Easpointe, Michigan. Also, East Detroit is just considered the East side of Metro Detriot, so he could be from the eastern part of the city of Detroit or from any one of the suburbs that is considered East Detroit (Harper Woods, Roseville, Clinton Township, St. Clair Shores)
• Emma from Palm Beach, Australia This song was performed in episode 403 of "The Family Guy" entitled "Don't Make Me Over" (original air date 06/05/05) by Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire and Joe. It's an enjoyable rendition, with pall bearers even dropping a coffin in order to hit "The Drunken Clam" to check out the performance.
• Matt from Haddon Hieghts, Nj This song is great and i got my whole family to love this song its Steve Perrys voice thats just awesome and its one of my fav
• Cindi from Vancouver, Canada OMG WHO care weather it is North, South. East or West it is a great song.....I can think about better things to debate than which way is up, down or left or right....I agree with who ever said there is N,S, E or West every where just get a compass and stand outside this isn't rocket science it's a Rock song.
• Zeke from Washington, Dc Actually, Canada IS south of Detroit. The southern part of Ontario is actually south of Detroit. Check your map Jon from Regina.
• Justin from Monson, Ma I think Journey's song "Don't stop Believin" is the greatest song in the world. I love it so much. Each time it comes on the radio, I turn it up loud. By the way, why does anyone care about how the city of Detroit is used in the song. The song's great!!!!!!!! -Justin Dubois,Monson,MA
• Matthew from East Brunswick, Nj Great song, Journey is a godsend of the 80's!
• Anwiya from Sterling Heights, Mi Hey John from Canada, you know nothing. A portion of Canada (city name: WINDSOR) is south of Detroit.
• Sara Mackenzie from Middle Of Nowhere, Fl white sox have used it for their theme song, omg!! at least it kept them going on to believe that they could win, and they did, so this song is like, an inspiration.
• Christa from Aurora, Il This was the song the white sox used for inspiration to win the world series 2005!
• Jeff from Sothington, Ct this is an inspirational song that has a good guitar part in it...the family guy episode was funny and the fact that i knew this girl that would sing this song and now everytime i hear it i see her singing it..but i still see myslef playing guitar...nice solo though
• David from Yosemite, Ca I heard this song sung a few weeks ago in San Francisco's North Beach--I was trying to sleep in the GreenTortoise hostel in the room above the lounge--and a chorus of girls was singing it. It must have been Kerioki night, but it was lovely. I couldn't recall the group (Journey), but heard a bit on the radio, and googled the lyrics. I've been googling lyrics all weekend--Napster's having free downloads, which brought me here--nice site.. I wish I could have recorded the girls singing. David Yosemite Sept. 4, 2005
• Chase from Pasadena, Ca Most of the memories posted on this website are by a girl named "Stephanie."
• Stephanie from Ellicott City, Md this song brings back some great memories .... reminds me of being just over the edge of 17, vacationing in Florida with my family. we were staying at this resort, and i was hanging out in the game room. i had been pretty bored, and i met this guy about 2 years younger than me. he was from a small town in Maine, while i was from the big city in Maryland. i was grateful to find someone close to my age, and we played airhockey, with us deciding to make a friendly bet, the terms to be determined after the game. he let me win, and the term of the bet was decided to be a kiss. we ended up making out for awhile, and when we parted for the night, we shared no pretense that we'd ever meet again. the next night, i heard this song, and it made me think of him - although it was reversed, he was the small town boy and i was the city girl, for a smile we shared the night, and the memories go on and on. i had been feeling pretty low about myself at this time, and feeling undesirable, and he made me feel like, hey, maybe there is something desirable about me after all. so, Matt from Maine, thank you.
• Ryan from Windsor, Canada Amazing song, one of the best from the 80's. oh and Jon from Regina, check your map bro. I'm from Windsor, Ontario Canada and to go to Detroit I'd have to travel North, not South (one of those "tricky" geography catches).
• Jev from Marietta, Ga Well does anyone know where I can get a good ringtone of this song period.
• Patrick from Charlotte, Nc no.
• Jev from Marietta, Ga Does anybody know where I can get a Don't Stop Believin ringtone that is reliable?
• Jon from Regina, Canada This is a great song. By the way, who really cares if they say South Detroit? It's not the end of the world. And John from Scottsdale, I thought most people knew this, but Canada is NORTH of Detroit, not south.
• Matthew from Marquette, Mi Ok... I don't know how many of you really know Geography, but there is a North, South, East and West of EVERYTHING! There is South America, Southern US, Southern California, South Detroit, my dorm room even has a southern part. While you may not find South Detroit on a map, there is in fact a South Detroit. The guy probably grew up near Michigan Avenue. As for the song... GREAT EFFIN' SONG!
• Tatem from San Diego, Ca No matter the radio station I'm listening to, you can always tell that distinctive Journey-Steve Perry sound and instantly know a Journey song regardless of your knowledge of their song list. Steve Perry gave Journey their uniqueness. I had heard about the Monster movie thing, never saw the movie though. It's hard to believe how old these guys are now. Steve Perry was a hottie. Aging happens to the best of us!!
• Perviz from Cochin, India Words can't describe the kind of feeling you get on hearing this song. Truly a masterpiece!!
• Perviz from Cochin, India This is truly a super duper song. Thanx a million Journey.
• Kevin from Grosse Pointe, Mi Yeah the whole South Detroit thing always bugged me too. Detroit is an East Side/West Side city, not a North Side/South Side city like Chicago. If the lyrics had said "East Detroit" it would have made more sense.
• Ryan from Lansing, Mi There is no East Detroit however as everyone should know, they changed there name to Eastpointe. But yeah he should really have said southren Detroit.
• John from Scottsdale, Az When I ever hear this song, I have to say "you've got it wrong, Steve, and sing "There ain't no such place as South Detroit." I grew up in Detroit. There's an east side and a west side. The dividing line is Woodward Avenue. South Detroit is..uh... Canada. Stand on the plaza in downtown Detroit, and look south. Oh, Canada. Otherwise, I like the song, but Steve and his buddies should hvae stuck to San Francisco or looked at a map
• Tom from Alma, Ga Ack! Another cookie-cutter corporate rock band. Being a child of the 80's, however, they did have some good stuff.
• Dawn from Highlands Ranch, Co Well, Neal Schon, Steve Perry and Jon Cain I think all take credit for the genesis of this song, which probably explains part of why they're not together anymore. But actress Charlize Theron really wanted this song for a scene in her movie Monster, so she and director/writer Patty Jenkins wrote a letter to Steve Perry begging him to allow them to use the song. He saw the scene they wanted it for, said it was perfect, through Sony contacts asked Jon and Neal if they were ok with it, they said yes, and Steve became musical consultant for the film, as well as the song being in the film. Steve is still traveling around the US and Canada with Patty helping her promote the movie and accepting awards for it.
• Mooler from Detroit, Mi Nora hit the nail right on the head. South Detroit is just referring to the southern part of the city just as south west detroit or west side or east side or northeast detroit...etc etc. I should know...im from north east detroit. 7 and gratiot.
• Paul from Greenwood, Sc Just a couple tidbits...in live shows, Journey frontman Steve Perry would insert the name of whatever city that would be hosting them, evidenced by the NFL films documentary of them from the late 80's where they are playing in Philly..."Born and raised in Phil-a-del-phia!"...also the guitar break between the first and second verse spotlights Schon at what he did best. Neil Schon was discovered by Carlos Santana and was playing on stage at the age of 15. He is incredibly fast and it shows on this classic.
• Larry from Artesia, Ca Streetlight people, living just to find emotion Hiding, somewhere in the night
• Angela from Santa Fe, Tx Does anyone know the lyrics to this song? I know most of them, however, there is one line in there where I can't seem to catch all the words. It is right after the line in the chorus "Streetlife people". Can anyone help me? Thanks.
• Nora from Richfield, Mn The lyrics didn't say 'south OF Detroit', it said South Detroit. Big difference

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American Anthem

'don't stop believin" goes on and on, because we need it to.

Roben Farzad

Steve Perry performs with Journey at a Chicago-area concert in 1981. Paul Natkin/Getty Images hide caption

Steve Perry performs with Journey at a Chicago-area concert in 1981.

This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem .

It's midnight on a Tuesday in Richmond, Va. At Sticky Rice, a sushi joint that hosts this college town's most raucous karaoke night, the crowd is already at fire-code capacity, and would-be crooners are forming a line outside. At around 12:30 a.m., a set of famous piano chords begins to play, and the place explodes. Friends stand together on tables; the people stuck in line outside press against the windows. For a fleeting moment, everyone's on the same midnight train going anywhere.

Twenty-somethings Matt Malone and Shilpa Gangisetty are tonight's lucky performers of Journey's " Don't Stop Believin' ," for which the DJ has received as many as five requests — though you can't exactly hear their singing beneath the overflowing crowd shouting along. When they're done, Gangisetty, who is Indian American, says she loves the song because it's something she can enjoy with her immigrant parents.

"This came out right before my parents came to this country," she says. "There aren't too many cultural things that we can relate on."

"It's like the 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' of, like, middle school," Malone chimes in. "You have to know it. Everyone hates to love it."

Thirty-eight years after it debuted on the album Escape, "Don't Stop Believin'" is the go-to anthem for perseverance that has itself persevered, successfully riding wave after new wave of media. Though born in the era of rock radio and cassette mixtapes, the song found its real glory at the dawn of binge TV and the smartphone, and it has woven its way into weddings, bar mitzvahs, graduations, the 2005 World Series, The Sopranos and Glee .

Its fate was hardly a given. Critic Deborah Frost didn't even mention "Don't Stop Believin'" by name in her October 1981 review of Escape in Rolling Stone, which gave the album two out of five stars. "Maybe," she wrote, "there really are a lot of 'streetlight people' out there. If so, my guess is that they'll soon glow out of it." They didn't: According to Nielsen Music, "Don't Stop Believin'" holds the record as the most downloaded 20th-century song, and it has nearly 700 million streams on Spotify, at last count. What is it about this track that just won't stop?

The story of the song itself begins with Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain. In the late 1970s, he was a struggling rocker who was ready to quit SoCal and move back to Chicago. Cain says everything had been going wrong: He and his girlfriend had split up, and he'd had to pay a costly vet bill to save his dog after it was hit by a car.

"I called my father for some money," he says. "I said, 'Dad, I'm out of cash here. ... Should I come home? Is this thing just not, you know, panning out?' And he told me, 'We've always had a vision, son. Don't stop believing.' I had a lyric book next to me, and I wrote it down."

Things started looking up for the musician after that. Cain found himself in a band opening up for mega-act Journey. Then, Journey itself poached him.

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What Does 'Born In The U.S.A.' Really Mean?

In 1981, when the band was recording Escape, lead singer Steve Perry asked Cain to come up with a final track. Cain still had his dad's advice in the dog-eared lyric book and from it drew inspiration for the pedaled, keep-the-faith piano part that builds and releases over and over until the phrase itself arrives in the chorus, more than three-quarters of the way into the track.

The characters introduced in the first verse, a small-town girl and a South Detroit city boy, are familiar by now — enough so that it's rarely addressed that there is no such neighborhood as South Detroit, apart from Perry needing an extra syllable. As for the singer in the smoky room with wine and cheap perfume, that tableau evokes the desperation Cain says he felt at the Sunset Strip's Whisky a Go Go during his rough Los Angeles days.

"I really believe this song is about wanting to make it," he says, "Where you think you're stuck in life — that you're able to get out, the same way I got out of Chicago."

The fictional William McKinley High School's glee club sang "Don't Stop Believin'" in a 2009 episode of Fox's Glee . FOX Image Collection/Getty Images hide caption

By the late 1990s, Perry had left Journey, and the band's career was in the wilderness. But the requests for "Don't Stop Believin'" kept coming.

Charlize Theron roller-skated to the song in her Oscar-winning turn as a serial killer in 2003's Monster . Four years later, The Sopranos ended its pioneering six-season run on HBO with — spoiler alert — a tense sequence involving a diner and parallel parking, soundtracked by "Don't Stop Believin'." Downloads of the track on iTunes soared. In 2009, the earnest high school show choir on Glee covered the song for the first of several times throughout the series' run, sending its download numbers through the roof again.

"Don't Stop Believin'" has been heard on Scrubs, South Park and Family Guy. A string ensemble played it in the Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer. It was the rally song for the Chicago White Sox in the team's 2005 World Series run, and it was the climax of the hit Broadway jukebox musical Rock of Ages. On social media, you can find plenty of photos of stop signs playfully defaced with the title exhortation.

For all its new success, Journey still needed a new lead singer who had something approximating Perry's trademark high tenor altino . Desperate, guitarist Neal Schon turned to searching for singers on YouTube — where, late one night, he discovered Arnel Pineda, a formerly homeless kid in the Philippines who was covering the band's ballads at smoky venues that reeked of wine and cheap perfume.

In 2007, Journey flew him to the U.S. for a tryout and hired him — a fairy-tale story chronicled in the 2009 documentary Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey .

Pineda told CBS News in 2012, "Even before I discovered 'Don't Stop Believin,' it has been my motto — you know, to never stop believing in myself. The life that I've gone through, all those hardships, I never stopped believing that someday there is something magical that will happen in my life."

As for Frost — the critic who originally panned Escape in Rolling Stone — she tells NPR that four decades later she's still not a fan but that maybe those streetlight people might — might — have a point.

"You know, I think maybe it helps them celebrate their high school years — or their hopes," she says. "And if it does, what can I tell you? Good for them."

Roben Farzad is the host of Full Disclosure on NPR member station VPM.

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Lorraine Bracco Says James Gandolfini Was in ‘Shock’ Over Final ‘Sopranos’ Scene: ‘Couldn’t Believe It’

The Sopranos series finale was full of nail biting moments and a dramatic finish that nobody saw coming — not even James Gandolfini.

Lorraine Bracco , who played Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the HBO series for all six seasons, revealed Gandolfini’s reaction to finding out that the show would end in a cliffhanger, famously cutting to a black screen as Tony Soprano sat down in a diner with his family.

“I was with Jim. Jim said, ‘That’s it? That’s it?’” Lorraine, 69, said in the new HBO documentary, Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos . “He couldn’t believe it. … I think he was in shock like everybody else.”

Gandolfini died on June 19, 2013, at age 51 from a heart attack.

Drea de Matteo , whose character was killed off the show in season 5, was completely shocked by the way the series ended, with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” blaring in the background. All eyes were on creator David Chase , as many wondered if the black screen meant Tony met his fate at the hands of a mysterious man in a Members Only jacket.

“Yo, did my TV just go out?” Drea remembered watching the finale. “And I’m thinking to myself, This is David. This is f–king David. This is exactly how he wanted to end the show. He doesn’t want anyone to know what’s going on right now.”

In the documentary, David explained his decision to end The Sopranos in such an unexpected way, with that particular song chosen as the final soundbite.

“It wasn’t just to be contrary. The more I was working with it, I started to hear one of the lyrics in that song: ‘The movie never ends. It goes on and on and on,’” he reflected. “I think what I was thinking about was the universe goes on and on. You may not go on and on, but the universe is going to go on and on. The movie is going to keep going.”

David has notably spoken out about the series finale a number of times in the past, as many loyal fans of the show still have questions about the fate of their favorite character.

“I had no idea it would cause that much … of an uproar,” David said in a November 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter . “What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? That bothered me.”

The TV producer admitted that he initially was thinking of ending the show in a different way.

“The scene I had in my mind was not that scene,” he said. “Nor did I think of cutting to black. I had a scene in which Tony comes back from a meeting in New York in his car. At the beginning of every show, he came from New York into New Jersey, and the last scene could be him coming from New Jersey back into New York for a meeting at which he was going to be killed.”

Ultimately, he decided to go ahead with an ending that nobody saw coming.

“I think I had this notion — I was driving on Ocean Park Boulevard near the airport and I saw a little restaurant,” he said. “It was kind of like a shack that served breakfast. And for some reason I thought, ‘Tony should get it in a place like that.’ Why? I don’t know. That was, like, two years before.”

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• James Gandolfini
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James Gandolfini's blunt four word reaction to The Sopranos finale

Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos shares how the mob drama was created, interviews with cast and the reaction to the controversial finale

• 13:50, 9 Sep 2024
• Updated 14:04, 9 Sep 2024

The Sopranos star James Gandolfini had a blunt four word response when he first watched the mob show's final episode. The Sopranos had a successful run from 1999 to 2007 and attracted critical acclaim, countless awards and made some of its cast household names.

The Sopranos, which debuted 25 years ago on HBO, has been the focus of Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos, which examines the mob drama's creator, the origins of The Sopranos, the writers' experiences inspiring the series and remembering some key moments with its actors.

The divisive final episode, Made in America, saw Tony Soprano survive the mob war with rival Mafioso Phil Leotardo and restructure his crew after many deaths and serious injuries. The Soprano family arranged to meet at a diner for food, with Meadow arriving late.

As Journey's Don't Stop Believin' plays in the diner, Tony frequently looks up to watch people open the diner's entrance before the scene cuts to black and the music abruptly stops. It is unclear whether Tony Soprano is alive or dies at the end.

Lorraine Blanco, who played Dr Jennifer Melfi, recalled James Gandolfini's initial reaction when they watched the finale together. She said: "I was with Jim and Jim said 'That's it? That's it?

"He couldn't believe it." The interviewer asked: "So Jim didn't know?" and Lorraine simply shook her head and said "Nope".

When asked for Jim's reaction, Lorraine said: "I think he was in shock, like everybody else".

The admission from Lorraine is significant as James Gandolfini is not believed to have publically shared his views on the controversial series ending. Other cast members were more sympathetic to The Sopranos finale, with Michael Imperioli remarking: "It was so sudden and strange. Really took everybody by surprise."

Drea de Matteo, who played Adriana, said: "I'm thinking of myself, this is David. This is f****** David. This is exactly how he wanted to end the show. He doesn't want anyone to know what's going on right now."

Referencing the "The movie never ends, it goes on and on and on" lyric to Don't Stop Believin', David Chase argued the show and its universe would have just continued. "You may not go on," says Chase, "but the universe is going to go on, the movie’s going to keep going."

"Made in America" is considered one of the greatest series finales of all time and continues to be debated by fans and critics to this day. The two-part documentary aired on Sky Documentaries on Sunday, September 8 and is currently available on catch-up.

The documentary will see interviews with various cast members and producers on a replica set of Dr. Melfi’s psychiatrist’s office as Gibney flips the script on David Chase, excavating and analysing the origins of “The Sopranos,” his creative process, and the intimate connections between his own life and many of his characters.

Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos takes viewers into the writers’ room, from the groundbreaking pilot episode to the controversial final episode and how a show about a multi-layered mob boss became a cultural milestone, a beloved fan-favourite, and changed television.

Interviews include writer and producer Robin Green, former president of HBO Entertainment Carolyn Strauss as well as Sopranos actors Michael Imperioli, Drea de Matteo, Lorraine Bracco, Steven Van Zandt, Edie Falco. The documentary archival interviews with late actors Nancy Marchand, James Gandolfini, and Tony Sirico.

MORE ON Edie Falco Lorraine Bracco Drea de Matteo Steven Van Zandt Michael Imperioli Nancy Marchand David Chase James Gandolfini Tony Soprano Documentaries The Sopranos

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James Gandolfini Had A 4-Word Reaction To The Sopranos Finale

Seventeen years after it first aired on HBO, the series finale of "The Sopranos" still stuns. David Chase's polarizing but powerful decision to end one of the best TV shows of all time with a sudden, ambiguous cut to black remains bold and shocking, even as countless other small screen sagas have come and gone.

In the new HBO two-part documentary "Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos," the series creator, writers, executive producers, and an occasional director gets surprisingly candid about both the show's inception and its ending. The rest of the cast and crew does too, with several involved in the finale recalling their initial disbelief at the show's withholding ending. "It was so sudden and strange," actor Michael Imperioli noted, while co-star Drea de Matteo said she called around to ask if her TV had gone out. According to star Lorraine Bracco, who played psychiatrist Dr. Melfi on the show, late Tony Soprano actor James Gandolfini was among the shocked.

"I was with Jim," Bracco told interviewers, confirming that the star of the show wasn't told about mobster Tony's fate — or the lack of clarity surrounding it — beforehand. After finishing the episode, Bracco recalled, "Jim said, 'That's it? That's it?' He couldn't believe it." When asked about the tone of the actor's exclamation — specifically if he was "pissed" — Bracco clarified that it wasn't an angry response. Rather, she says, "I think he was in shock like everybody else."

The Tony Soprano actor was in shock

Gandolfini was the first of many people who would be. On June 26, 2007, nearly 12 million people tuned in to see how Tony's story ended, only to discover that Chase wasn't going to tell them. Instead, he ended the series with a scene that was at once tense and mundane. In it, Tony meets up at a diner with wife Carmela (Edie Falco) and son A.J. (Robert Iler), with daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) on the way to join them. The family isn't on particularly high alert, though Tony looks at every person who comes through the door — after all, he's got plenty of enemies, some of whom have been on the verge of taking him out all season. A man in a Members Only jacket who looks particularly suspicious goes to the bathroom, and two Black men — typically the demographic the show's mobsters would hire for a frame job — step into the diner. All the while, "Don't Stop Believin'" plays. Then the show cuts to black. The end.

It's an ending that baffled longtime fans as well as the show's cast, according to "Wise Guy." Many viewers (de Matteo among them) famously believed that their TV sets had gone out at the time. De Matteo added: "I'm thinking to myself, 'This is David. This is f—ing David. This is exactly how he wanted to end the show. He doesn't want anyone to know what's going on right now.'" The really surprising tidbit of information here is that Gandolfini seemingly wasn't in on the secret before the scripts dropped, but given several on-set tensions described in the documentary (Gandolfini's personal demons and continuous wish to quit the show, Chase's depressing taskmaster attitude, problems with press leaks), it makes sense that everyone involved would be left in the dark for as long as possible.

David Chase also dropped some hints about how the cut to black came to be

The darkness persisted beyond the show's conclusion. Chase refused to drop hints about his intentions with the finale for years, and fans eventually came to their own conclusions about what must have happened. Finally, in Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall's 2019 book "The Sopranos Sessions," Chase likened the ending to a "death scene." He later told The Hollywood Reporter that he had planned to have Tony killed in a mob confrontation, but decided to change the ending to a diner setting. 

In "Wise Guy," Chase still attempts to keep some mystique around the scene, but also gives more insight into his thought process, citing inspiration drawn from both a Journey lyric ("the movie never ends/It goes on and on and on and on") and a stray line, spoken seasons earlier , in which A.J. Soprano guesses that black symbolizes death. For once, A.J. was right: the cut to black was a symbol of death coming for Tony, as abruptly and without warning as it could come for anyone. It's all starting to make sense nearly two decades after the fact, but it's amusing to know that at the time, the twist ending was as much a shock for James Gandolfini as it was for the rest of us.